Panthers Notes and Nuggets From Tuesday’s OTA Practice

DID NOT PRACTICE

DT Kawann Short

DT Star Lotulelei

DT Paul Soliai

OL Chris Scott

In an odd coincidence, the Panthers' top-3 DTs weren't at the "voluntary" practice. It's the second straight Tuesday Soliai has missed. Coach Ron Rivera said all four players were excused for personal reasons.

FIRST-TEAM OFFENSE

QB — Cam Newton, RB — Jonathan Stewart, FB — Mike Tolbert,

WR — Devin Funchess, WR — Ted Ginn Jr., TE — Greg Olsen,

LT — Michael Oher, LG — Andrew Norwell, C — Ryan Kalil,

RG — Trai Turner, RT — Mike Remmers

Notable: No changes from last week; a handful of WRs again worked in with the 1s, including Philly Brown, Brenton Bersin, Damiere Byrd and Kevin Norwood.

FIRST-TEAM DEFENSE

DE — Charles Johnson, DT — Kyle Love, DT — Vernon Butler,

DE — Kony Ealy, LB — Thomas Davis, LB — A.J. Klein,

LB — Shaq Thompson, CB — James Bradberry,

CB — Robert McClain, S — Tre Boston, S — Kurt Coleman

Notable: With Short, Lotulelei and Soliai all out, Butler got his first chance to line up with the starters; when Davis took a break, David Mayo lined up at MLB while Klein slid to the outside; the defense again didn't spend a lot of time in nickel, or at least, didn't use a smaller cornerback in the slot all that much.

PLAYER NOTES

WR Kelvin Benjamin, who made his OTA debut Thursday, looked good in individual drills. Like LB Luke Kuechly and CB Bené Benwikere, the Panthers are holding Benjamin out of team drills until training camp.

WR Ted Ginn Jr. made multiple impressive grabs early in practice, but during a team drill, he let a pass go through his hands as he tried to drag his feet in the back corner of the end zone.

WR Devin Funchess had a big day, going up to snag a couple of high throws from Newton. An analogy for Funchess right now: He looks like Benjamin did during the spring of 2014.

WR Brenton Bersin teamed with Newton to beat LB Shaq Thompson on a crossing route on the first play of team drills.

TE Braxton Deaver had a neat morning. With his dad watching from the sideline, the Charlotte native some plays, including one down the seam on a pass from QB Derek Anderson.

RT Daryl Williams continues to get some snaps with the starters, but Mike Remmers is still the clear No. 1 RT.

LT David Foucault continues to act as Michael Oher's main backup.

DE Kony Ealy was one of a few D-linemen who were fooled by hard counts. That made D-line coach Eric Washington less than pleased.

LB A.J. Klein drew a big cheer from the defense when he snuffed out a screen to RB Jonathan Stewart. Klein later earned praise from defensive coordinator Sean McDermott after reacting quickly to a Newton dump off.

LB Jeremy Cash has a long climb ahead. He has time, but the undrafted free agent is currently well down the depth chart.